While general manager Neal Huntington had said in September and again in December that he planned to tender Capps, he never said so definitively and always left a hint of doubt in his words.

Huntington is firmly part of the new wave of general managers who take into account statistical analysis as much as they do scouting in making decisions. One of the tenets of the sabermetricians is to never to overpay for a reliever because you rarely get value for your money.

Capps made $2.3 million last season and surely would have had his salary jump to at least $4 million through arbitration as he had 27 saves, something that would have impressed a three-person arbitration panel.

However, Capps had career worsts with a 5.80 ERA, 12.1 hits per nine innings, 1.7 home runs per nine innings and 2.8 walks per nine innings in 2009. Throw in the fact that Capps has spent nearly two months on the disabled list with shoulder problems in 2008 then battled elbow soreness in the early stages of last season, and it led the Pirates to believe Capps was in the decline phase of his career despite being just 26.

Meanwhile, the Pirates are confident Joel Hanrahan can take over as the closer despite being removed from the job twice by Washington last season before the Nationals traded him on June 30 with Lastings Milledge for Nyjer Morgan and Sean Burnett. Hanrahan had a 1.72 ERA and did not allow a home run in 33 games with the Pirates, giving up just 6.6 hits per nine innings. However, he did issue 5.7 walks per nine innings while striking out 10.6.

“He was throwing the ball better than anybody they had in their bullpen in the second half of last season,” said a major-league scout who regularly covers the Pirates. “They had him throwing his slider for strikes again and that makes a big difference. All he had was the fastball with Washington and hitters were sitting on it and killing him. He’s got a great arm and now he has confidence to go with it.”

About The Author

John Perrotto

Pirates Insider

John Perrotto is a contributor to Inside Pittsburgh Sports, covering the Pittsburgh Pirates, MLB. John has covered the Pirates for over 20+ seasons and is an exclusive member of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Trade Buzz: Thursday’s 1-for-1 trade of young underperforming players saw the Minnesota Wild acquire center Victor Rask from the Carolina Hurricanes for left winger Nino Niederreiter. Carolina did an excellent job of being able to get out of the Rask contract, who has three years remaining with a $4 million cap hit. Rask has 1 goal, 5 assists on the season, mirrored in a 22-game goal drought. The logic here for Minnesota is taking the chance on a playmaking center who can help fill a top-9 spot longer term if the Wild move on from Eric Staal. Minnesota is also playing the card that a change of scenery will benefit the 24-year old who posted a career-high 21 goals, 48 points in 2015-2016.

Niederreiter’s trade value was stunted because of his contract, where he has three years left on his deal with a $5.25 million cap hit. Niederreiter is a player who is extremely hard to play against, drives possession well, and has three 20 goal seasons over his last four full seasons. Injuries (18 goals in 63 games) kept him from a 4th straight 20-goal season in 17-18. The Niederreiter acquisition also sets up as great insurance for the Hurricanes if they can’t resign Micheal Ferland. In the short-term, Carolina’s center situation is a mess with Jordan Staal sidelined with a concussion, but they’re getting the better player who fits the identity they’re trying to establish upfront, especially on the wings where they’ve identified the need for Patric Hornqvist type players.